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| everythingbonsai |
By:
Alfiejack |
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So what is Bonsai?
Perhaps it is better to begin by explaining what a bonsai is not. A bonsai is not a genetically dwarfed plant, it is not treated with magic potions to reduce its size and, most importantly it is not kept small by cruelty in any way. Actually, given a good supply of water, air, light and nutrients, acorrectly looked afterbonsai should survive a full sized tree of the same species. The genesis of Bonsai, while often attributed to the Japanese, is actually Chinese in provenance. Many experts agree that bonsai, know as Pensai in China, was used by scholars, monks and the upperclasses of China as far back as 600 A.D. A few hundred years later, bonsai, along with Zen Buddhism, and much of the best of Chinese culture was brought to Japan.
The word "Bonsai", which is pronounced "Bone- Sigh", consists of the two Japanese characters: "Bon" meaning tray and "sai" meaning plant, which when literally translated means: tray plant. Of course, the cultivation of bonsai trees has advanced much since its simplestart as plants in trays.
An earthquake is the reason for for shifting the "epicenter" of bonsai cultivation in Japan. In 1923 an 8.3 proportion earthquake obliteratedthe whole Kanto region of Japan. Obliteratingvast portions of the two largest cities: Tokyo and Yokohama; along with a majority of the commercial growers businesses. As a result, the bonsai business community, in an effort to save their craft, collectively bought a portion of land on the outskirts of Tokyo, in the Omiya region, where their businesses once again flourished. {Hence, a new hub of bonsai cultivation in Japan was born(which exists and thrives to this day).
In 1976 the nation of Japan, to markthe USA Bicentennial Celebration, presented to America 53 priceless bonsai trees and 6 amazing viewing stones. These presentswere to become theCornerstoneof our national collection. This exceptionalcollection is kept at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum,found inside the U.S. National Arboretum, in Washington, D.C. It has since become the largest collection of its kind - home to bonsai from all over the world!The most ancient bonsai in the national collection is more than300 years of age. The bonsai is a White Pine that is lovingly known as the Yamaki Pine, in honor of its contributor, Masaru Yamaki. The Yamaki began its life in the 1600s and, although being less than five miles away from the epecenter, it survived the atomic bomb blast at Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.Several of the trees in the national collection were given as presentsto several Presidents of the United States. Actually, in 1998, the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Obuchi, gave President William Jefferson Clinton an 80-year-old Ezo Spruce. The gift was reallyimportant to the national bonsai collection for two reasons: the first and most obvious reason is the fact that it is a work of artand the second, and lesser-known reason, is that the gift of an Ezo Spruce - any Ezo Spruce - to an American president is meaningful, because the United States maintains a long standing baron the importation of all Ezo Spruce and, therefore, the national collection has been without an Ezo Spruce example.
For many species of deciduous trees the size of the leaf is directly related to the quality and amount of sunlight the tree isgrownin. A bonsai tree that is grown in partial shade or in full shade will have longer and larger leaves, because the tree is trying to maximize the amount of sunlight it can consume to enable it to maintainits photosynthetic processes - a larger leaf has more surface area with which to draw sunlight. Alternatively, a tree that is grown in direct sun, all or most of the time, will have smaller and more compact leaves, because it is getting all of the sunlight it needs. Meaning, it can concentrate its energy to growing. This is important for all trees, but more important for trees cultivated for bonsai, as smaller leaves are more suited to the smaller scale of a bonsai tree; smaller leaves are, therefore, a good trait, both aesthetically and from a horticultural perspective, because a tree is healthiest when it can get all of the energy it needs to evolve
If you would like to learn more about Bonsai, please visit this link:www.alfiesbonsaigarden.c om
About the author:
Alfiejack writes regularly about Bonsai related topics. I hope you enjoy this article. |
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